More Fall Fun..

We have been really enjoying all the wonderful fall weather lately!

Painting a birdhouse with Poppy:

Enjoying "water" boots given to us by a neighbor:

Ainsley's Dedication

On November 1st, we had Ainsley dedicated at our church, 4 Corners. It was a special day for us all - thanking God for our special blessing, celebrating that she's here, and promising to raise her with our Christan faith. We had all the Grandparents and Aunt Robin, Uncle Dave, Mya, and Aunt (to-be) Jen attend. During church there was a thoughtful blessing from Ben and a slight mishap with A's shoe flying off. We then went back and celebrated at Nani & Poppy's house with lunch. It was a wonderful day!

Beautiful Fall Day

Last Saturday, we had nothing on the calendar and forecast for a beautiful day! We decided to take the kids up to Youngstown, Ohio for a little day adventure. We had so much fun!! We made our way up to Young's Dairy first. Evan got to check out the scene - there were tractors to play on, goats to look at and feed, and farm animals to watch.
We had lunch at the store, and, of course, homemade ice cream!

Evan picked bubble gum ice cream - and to his surprise, it had real gum in it!

He was also waiting for the cows - which were outside - we had to come back later that evening to see them get milked.
We then headed over to Clifton Gorge to do a little hiking. The scenery was beautiful and we saw lots of waterfalls. There were lots of leaves to jump in too. Evan found a walking stick and Ainsley just hug out in the front pack and enjoyed the outdoors and took a little nap!


We then headed back to Young's Dairy to feed the goats and watch the cows get milked.
Evan definitely thought that seeing the cows get milked was the coolest thing ever! We probably watched for about 30 minutes.
This was one beautiful, fall day that we'll remember for a long time!

7 for 7 Months

Here are 7 things about Ainsley as she turns 7 months old today:

1. She has mastered sitting (which I love)!!! However, she's not content with just sitting anymore. She likes to lean over and get herself into the crawling position (and sit back up again.) She is up on all fours for awhile and then gets mad and plops down. She's also figured out how to scoot backwards, even though it's not the direction she wants to be going in! I was hoping that she wouldn't be interested in crawling - but we'll see what this month brings!

2. Ainsley is not so sure about "real" food. So far we've tried: oatmeal, rice cereal, green beans, sweet peas, carrots, sweet potatos, apples, bananas, and pears.. and her favorite food is... breastmilk! She will eat a bite of almost anything, and then clench her mouth shut. I know she'll figure it out one day, and it's been interesting to try. One thing that she does like is drinking water from a sippy cup - and we discovered she could use a straw to drink as well.

(Don't let the picture fool you - she is actually eating bananas - it was a one time thing :P)

3. She has been doing a lot of dress up lately - for her first Halloween and some super girly 6 month pictures.


4. Ainsley figured out how to play peek-a-boo with us and it's so cute!

5. She is a very good nature and easy baby - poor thing is always on the go, never getting naps in her crib, and she hardly ever makes a peep! She loves to be outside, be in just her diaper, and to watch her brother.

First bike ride!

6. Ainsley has been practicing sounds and noises like crazy - making popping sounds, rasberries, rasberries with her bubby in, ma-ma-ma, da-da-da, ahhh.. I love her sweet little voice.

7. Ainsley was dedicated at church last month. We had our whole family there to celebrate. She is truly a blessing from God. I look at her (ad Evan) every day and wonder how did I get so blessed?

Evan's Video

On Saturday mornings, when we don't have anything going on, my awesome hubby lets me sleep in! One Saturday, Evan, Doug, and Ainsley were playing and making videos with our camera. When Doug took Ainsley up for a nap, Evan decided to make a video all on his own.. so, here it is, Evan's video directing/acting debut..

My 6 Month Old Baby Girl...

My sweet little baby girl is now six months old! Unbelievable! The past few months have flown by - and all I know is that Doug and I both feel so blessed to have Ainsley in our lives. She is so happy and sweet and just goes with the flow. She has the biggest smile - so big that she actually "falls" over when she gets a really big grin. Her eyes light up all the time. She is also such a studier - watching everything that goes on.

She is still talkative, but loves to observe. She is pretty good at sitting - going for a minute or two before tumbling over. She still loves the exersaucer and she's really good at the jumparoo. She has started playing "shy" when she sees someone new. She loves her brother and tolerates all his love. She is a good sleeper, just waking up once a night. She rolls everywhere - forward and back and is able to roll/reach herself to whatever is interesting nearby. I love my little girl!!

Enjoy some pictures from the last month:

New trick - sticking out her tongue!

The whole family.
My little sweetheart!

Still smiling with Evan love :)

Don't start crawling yet!!

Every once in awhile she will still fall asleep in our arms.

First swing ride on the new swingset.

First cold :(

Ready to go!!

4th Birthday Party!

Evan has had one dog on his mind lately - Scooby Doo! So, of course, he wanted a Scooby Doo birthday party! It was so much fun to plan a party with a theme that was easy :) We had a great birthday party with our friends - and 4 of Evan's closest friends - Brayden, Avery B, Avery J, and Olivia! Here are some pictures from the fun day:

Scooby Cupcakes and Scooby Snacks!

Fun with party horns! (They were Evan's request)


All the kids helped Evan open up his presents. Evan would ask them to help and then say that he'd want to open them. It was too cute.
Singing Happy Birthday!
Turning Doug into a Mummy - the kids were then chased by him. This game went over a little better than pin the nose on Scooby!

Our "Baby" is 4!

4 Year Appointment

I took Evan to his 4 year appointment today. First, his stats: 35.5 pounds and 39.5 inches.

I loved his 3 year appointment because he was so chatty with his doctor. I was looking forward to this year's appointment so he could show off his 4 year old "skills"... well, Evan didn't come to the doctor today - Scooby did. The whole appointment Evan would answer everything "roh" and "reah"... He was also jumping all over like a dog. Oh well! At least he showed off his imagination! I just had to laugh - life with a 4 year old is already definitely fun and I keep learning to expect the unexpected!!

Oh yeah - and the shots. I didn't tell him that he was getting them ahead of time, but he took the news better than I thought. He cried for about two minutes and then all was well with a Scooby sticker.

Another Birthday Post...

On Evan's actual birthday, we asked him what he wanted to do. Without hesitation, he decided that he wanted to go to Johnny's Toys. On his birthday, a Wednesday, he got up and went to school. I got to take in treats for his classmates (pumpkin cookies) and got to sing with them. Evan was slightly embarrassed, but really like it. Doug then took off a half day off work and we headed straight for Johnny's Toys (with a stop for Wendy's in the car). We got to Johnny's Toys around 12:30 and Evan was so excited!! He loves that place. We played, and played, and played - all the way until they closed at 5. It was so fun to see him have so much fun! We ate dinner down in KY so we'd miss the traffic, and on the way home, around 7, Evan fell asleep in the car! It was a fun, exhausting day for us all.